lCriminals forced two employees of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to part with Rs 14 lakh in cash and Rs 6 lakh in cheques at revolver-point while they were on their way to deposit the money at a local bank at Barasat Dakbungalow More on Wednesday evening. Police said the two employees had come out of the LIC building and were about to get into a waiting Ambassador to drive to the local branch of the Bank of India, when a car and a two-wheeler came in their way. Five youths with revolvers forced the two to part with the bag containing the money and the cheques. The employees registered a complaint with the police.

The rents of state-run theatre halls will increase soon. The government has prepared a directive in this regard. There will be a sharp rise in the rents of Girish Mancha, Rabindra Sadan, Madhusudan Mancha and other halls as the government is “unable to continue paying subsidies”.

Boarders of Rammohun Hostel on Amherst Street started a fast-unto-death on Wednesday to protest Calcutta University’s (CU) decision to close down the hostel. Recently, CU authorities decided to shut down the hostel. A notice has also been sent to City College in this regard.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) decided to hand over the responsibility of desilting the city’s 75-km brick sewers and 1,200-km pipe sewers to private agencies. Announcing this on Wednesday, mayor Subrata Mukherjee said the CMC would save more than Rs 1 crore a year if desilting operations with jetting-cum-suction and Blo-vac machines were carried out by private agencies.

Trouble erupted at Bidhannagar railway station on Wednesday over hawker eviction at the station complex. A clash broke out between the hawkers and Railway Protection Force. Government Railway Police officers expressed dissatisfaction over the way the RPF launched the operation without informing them.

The Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh will host a cultural evening at Rabindra Sadan on December 16 to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of Victory Day. Singers from Bangladesh will perform songs of Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and folk numbers.